Typical homeowners are not in the construction trade; however many are familiar with building simple structures around the house, e.g., additional structures for storage in the garage, a shed, a patio cover and the like. During construction of these projects, it is often necessary to use a standard bubble level to check horizontal or vertical members of the framework being assembled. In many cases, the builder needs to orient and hold the level against the work piece with one hand in order to align the work piece in place with the other. This leaves one in the awkward condition of having both hands involved holding the work piece aligned while holding the level oriented on the work piece.
In order to permanently fix the work piece in place at the aligned location, one must put continue to hold the level and work piece aligned with one hand, pick up a tool or tools (e.g., a hammer and a nail) and try to use the tool(s) to attach the work piece without disturbing the alignments of the level and the work piece.
It may also be necessary to move the work piece and re-align it several times. This is a common situation, and can lead to frustrating and time wasting experiences.
Existing plumb tools require the use of both of the users hands, in many cases this may be undesirable. In construction of structures large and small, professional or home repair, the user may want or need the other hand to hold the object to be plumb or level. Example: a user is building a structure that uses 2×4 common lumber, with one hand that user holds the object (2×4) with the other cannot attach or engage the plumb tool that requires both hands.
There are attachable levels that are available in the trades. One known type requires the user stretch a rubber band strap around the object to be leveled by using two hands. This method has several disadvantages, specifically because when an object or structural member is being attached to a structure or frame, that is the same time the user needs both hands free for alignment or other tasks. Another disadvantage is the requirement that the elastic strap completely surround the member, making it impossible to align two contiguous, coplanar members because of the strap between them.
U.S. Pat. No. 392,124 by Jackson describes a spirit level mounted in a casting with three screw holes for securing the level to a leveling rod or pole. A series of three wood screws are used for semi-permanently mounting the level to the vertical leveling rod or pole and is clearly not attachable or removable with one hand.
The Geier U.S. Pat. No. 2,356,311 describes an orbital bubble level of the general type that is employed in other previously mentioned inventions.
Dodson, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,541,641 describes an adjustable bubble level that is mainly for use in checking rotatable machine elements, such as shafts, pulleys, flywheels, fan rotors, gears, and the like a base member in the form of an inverted V-block is adapted to straddle and fit over the rotatable machine element such as a shaft. The V-block has a vertical post for supporting a vial yoke that in turn carries the level vial. This level is for determining a horizontal position, rather than in finding a plumb line. The V-Block is held to the shaft by means of a flexible chain that is attached at one end to the block, and at the other end is provided with an adjustable wing nut for engagement with adjacent end of the V-block. Attachment of the Dodson level to the shaft requires the use of at least two hands, one for holding the level and chain in position, and the other for turning the wing nut.
The Zipser U.S. Pat. No. 2,757,458 describes a bubble level for attachment to a portable drill, where the level may be angularly adjusted with respect to the drill so that the drill is capable of drilling holes at predetermined angles without requiring the use of a drill press.
The Weichert U.S. Pat. No. 2,806,296 is another patent showing a bubble level for attachment to a portable electric drill, which enables the drill operator to guide the drill at any angle with respect to the horizontal.
The Baher U.S. Pat. No. 3,826,013 describes a multi-purpose tool that may be use to level, square, and plumb various cylindrical, curved, inclined, and planar shaped objects. This Baher tool has a body member with right angular arms for forming a vertical elongated groove that is adapted to butt against and accommodate an elongate object, such as a post, rod, pipe, or conduit. There is also a horizontal shell for supporting a bubble level or a target type “bulls-eye” liquid vial for use in leveling or plumbing an object being measured or positioned. A handle is disposed beneath the horizontal shelf for grasping by the user. This patent does not illustrate a means for attaching the tool to the object being measured so as to free up both hands of the user.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,343,093 by Eadens discloses a leveling instrument having a level mounted on a ledge supported by a body member. The body member has a pair of right-angular arms to engage an object to be plumbed, a bead chain attached at one end to the body member, where said chain has a length extending to a free end along its length adapted to snugly encircle the object so engaged. A keeper is fixed to the body with quick-attachment and quick-release capability to engage the encircling bead chain length at its free end.
Eadens' encircling chain and keeper method for attaching the leveling instrument to such an engaged object requires the user to hold the plumb tool body with one hand, and to engage the arms in abutting relationship against co-extensive right-angular surfaces on the object to be plumbed. At the same time, the other hand is occupied to snugly encircle a length of the chain around the object, reaching from its fixed end on the body to a free end length at the mounted keeper. While still maintaining the body member arms in said abutting engagement with the one hand, the other hand remains occupied in order to attach the free end length of the snugly fitting bead chain to the keeper with the quick-attachment means thereat. This leaves the leveling instrument in self-supporting abutment with the engaged object. Although this permits the leveling instrument to remain in self-supporting attachment for verifying level or plumb with the object while it is independently maneuvered with one or both hands, it does not solve the problem of requiring both hands to first attach the instrument to the object, prohibiting a simple, single handed method of attaching the instrument to the object independent of holding the instrument in engaged relationship with the object.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,571,845 by Wright describes methods for retaining the bubble level vials, specifically a snap-fit method refers to a recess having a semi-cylindrical contour and a via U-receiving opening defined between a pair of opposed ridges. This vial mounting structure can be employed as part of a number of level and plumb tools but does not provide a means for one-hand attachment to a general construction object, but rather to the body of a level or plumb indicating device.
The Eadens U.S. Pat. No. 4,343,093 describes a plumb tool that is adapted to be mounted to the object that is being plumbed. This tool has a body member formed of rigid material with a pair of right angular arm portions, where each arm has a substantially flat inner surface for use in engaging an object that is to be plumbed. An orbital bubble level is mounted on a ledge that projects outwardly from one arm portion to indicate when the object is plumb in all directions from a vertical axis. A flexible elongated strap member is attached at one end to the body member and is adapted to engage the object that is to be plumbed.
A keeper is mounted on the other end of the tool for engaging the other end of the strap member so the tool has quick-attachment and quick-release capability. This patent does not illustrate a means for attaching the tool that only requires one hand to attach by the user. It is obvious that one hand must support the body of the level against the object, while the other hand attaches the other end of the strap to the keeper.
Payne, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,819,425 discloses a clamp (FIGS. 1–6) for temporarily attaching a level to a construction component including an elongated metal or plastic, inverted U-shaped, two-piece body with an opening in the center of the top wall that extends partway down the side walls through which the level bubble is seen, a pair of pivotally-mounted, spring-loaded, opposed jaws (FIGS. 7–15) for temporarily gripping the construction component, and grooves, a micro catch patches, or screws for temporarily attaching the level to the body. The two-piece body allows for adjustment to levels of different widths. A plurality of pins 214 extend approximately perpendicularly from the inner surface 216 adjacent to the lower edge 218 of the jaws lower portion 204. Preferably there are two pins 214, one near each end of the jaw 14, 16. The pins 214 allow the jaws 14, 16 to securely grip the construction element to which the level is being clamped.
Payne's clamp has several features that can be disadvantages in many circumstances. There is inherent possibility of possible misalignment between the clamp, the level and the component, if the clamp and level are not correctly mounted or when edges and surfaces relied on for alignment become worn or damaged or have foreign material agglomerated between then, e.g., paint, dirt and the like. Also there is additional cost added for a user who must purchase the clamp/jaw assembly in addition to the original cost of the level. It would be desirable to have level with such a spring like clamp capability to attach a level to a construction component without the added cost or possible alignment degradation presented in Payne.
Also, the pins can mar the surface of a construction member, which may be unacceptable in certain cases.
Walters, et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,933,974 describes a carpenter's square having a first and second leg at right angles to each other, and a third leg extending between the first and second legs. A magnetic strip is provided on the first leg for attaching the tool to a metallic surface to be plumbed. A first notch in the third leg a first distance from the first leg and a second notch in the third leg a second distance from the first leg so that a plumb string can be threaded through the first and second notches and thereby held in place to support a plumb bob to allow a plumb reading to be taken without the need for manually supporting the plumb bob. Walters' square is limited to attachment to metallic objects thus being useless in the ordinary wood construction trade. Walter's magnetic strip only aligns the square along one axis on the plane of a flat surface, requiring the user to make another adjustment to get the level aligned on two axes and thus would not be useful for non-planar construction members, e.g., pipes.
It would be useful if was easy to temporarily attach a level to the work piece while holding a tool in the other hand, simultaneously aligning and holding the level and the work piece in place with one hand. One would not have to put down and pick up other tools, in order to handle the level. A level that can be temporarily attached to the work piece for orienting and aligning the work piece, with one hand, would offer the advantage of keeping the other hand free for another task, e.g., holding another work piece or handling other tools.
It would also be an advantage for the level to be aligned in two orthogonal axes when attached with one simple operation.